Thorough hand washing, disinfection and isolating infected individuals best control and prevent the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chlorine bleach solutions--not alcohol based sanitizers--kill the virus, health officials said. MLive File Photo

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI –
The dreaded gastrointestinal illness known
as norovirus continues to sweep through Muskegon County, Ken Kraus, director of
Public Health – Muskegon County said.

"It's still
moving rapidly throughout the community," Kraus said. "It just rolls through
and it's easily transmissible."

The health department announced on March 25 that
the agency has experienced increased reports of gastrointestinal illness and
confirmed norovirus as the culprit for some cases.

While often referred
to as "stomach flu," norovirus has no relations to influenza, a respiratory
illness known for causing fever, coughing, runny nose and sore throat. Norovirus
irritates the lining of the stomach and intestines, causing severe vomiting and
diarrhea.

The vast majority of
cases go unreported and most people recover without seeking medical testing or
treatment, health officials said. Many times, Kraus said, people don't know what bug
hit them, even if they possessed common symptoms.

"You get really
sick, really fast," he said. "It just hits really hard. You're down and it
beats you up."

The illness, notorious for circulating
on cruise ships, easily spreads through food, person-to-person contact and by
touching contaminated surfaces.

Dori Peters,
spokeswoman for the health department, said food service establishments and group facilities,such as schools, hospitals, nursing
homes and prisons must report to the local health department if officials
suspect a norovirus case.

Kraus said at least five group facilities
have reported norovirus cases to the department this year.

Kraus said naming
those places can be counterproductive because some people often assume that there
was something wrong with an infected facility and may avoid it in the future. They also overlook
the fact that the pathogen can move quickly throughout any environment, he
said.

"The viruses can
live just about anywhere and they replicates very easily. It only takes a few
of them to get someone sick," Kraus said.

Kraus and Peters said
the health department works with the impacted facilities on a consulting basis by instructing
and educating the cleaning staff on how to effectively clean the contaminated area
and by providing tips on restricting access and monitoring employees' health.

Thorough hand
washing, disinfection and isolating infected individuals best control and
prevent the illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.

The agency's directives contend that popular
disinfectant solutions like Lysol and PineSol may be effective but may require
using two to four times the manufacturer's recommended concentration. However,
using more than recommended could pose serious health and environmental risks
to pets and humans, the state-issued document warns.

The guidelines recommend
using masks, gloves, eye protection or face shields and protective garments before
entering the contaminated environment and recommend the use of "pour" or "pump"
bottles rather than spray and aerosol containers.

Kraus said if
someone vomits within certain confines, the entire area, including chairs,
tabletops and other objects, must be thoroughly infected because droplets and tiny
particles suspend in the air, increasing the risk of infection.

"If you're in an
institutional setting, especially a nursing home, and they don't clean
thoroughly they may keep that keep thing going," Kraus said. "If they miss one door handle and someone gets
sick from that, they have start all over again."

The county health
department requires local restaurants with norovirus-stricken employees to
notify the agency for a consultation per the 2009
FDA Food Code. Those establishments should exclude employees from working until symptoms subside for
at least three days, health officials said.

Foods commonly involved in norovirus outbreaks
include shellfish, leafy greens and fresh fruits, but any food served raw or handled
can become contaminated, according to the CDC.

In March 2012, Australian
health officials detected a new strain of norovirus, GII.4 Sydney, which has spread
worldwide. The CDC in January announced that the strain has led the cause of
outbreaks in the United States this season and has replaced the previous
dominant strain, GII.4 New Orleans.

Kraus said it's unknown if some of
the county's current norovirus cases include the GII.4 Sydney virus.